A Figure in the Shadows

Understanding American
Christian Nationalism

LIKE MANY WHO GREW UP in the American evangelical church, my first encounters with Christian missionaries were during special Sunday worship services. To my young mind they were brave, sacrificial, and somewhat mysterious men and women who left the familiarity of their homes to travel a great distance to a strange land to tell people about Jesus. They worked with indigenous communities to dig wells for clean water, translate the Bible into the local language, provide medical clinics, start schools, and introduce people to Jesus, letting them know that he loves them.

On the special occasions that missionaries would visit our church, they would share powerful stories of God’s miraculous work. I found myself captivated by the pictures of their mission fields, which were vastly different from where I lived. After the service we would gather in the fellowship hall for an in-depth presentation of the ways God had been at work in their community and how those of us living stateside could help to provide for the needs we were hearing about.

In those early years I learned that missionaries were people who made it their life’s work to serve a specific group of people and to share the good news of Jesus through their words and deeds. I also intuited that missionaries were some kind of superhuman Christians. Only an incredibly special person could be a missionary. Or so I thought.

Many years later I took on a pastoral role in my hometown. In the years that have followed I’ve had the great pleasure of getting to know many missionaries who were called to serve peoples all over the world. I discovered something that I hope they won’t take as a slight—they are normal folk like you and me. The difference between us is not in their superhuman faith or gifting. The difference is in their calling. They are called to make disciples of a people different from the one they were born into. They are called to share the good news of Jesus and help people follow him in their day-to-day lives, which is what all Christians are called to do.

I make this observation not to diminish the work of missionaries but to encourage you. Crosscultural missionaries are people called to reach a specific culture, often in a faraway land. Many of us are called to be missionaries to a people group right here in the United States. Among those who need to be reached are those who profess to be Christians, but whose actions and stated beliefs are contrary to the gospel. American Christian nationalists are one of those groups, and we can be the missionaries who can reach them.

In this section of the book we will work to better understand our mission field. Like a good missionary we must first become students of the culture we intend to reach; only once we’ve established a groundwork of knowledge will we be equipped to connect deeply with, set the table for, and invite those we love into healthy discussion and reflection. First, we will explore the political beliefs, cultural values, and rituals of American Christian nationalists (chapter 2). Then, we will study the spiritual dynamic that empowers American Christian nationalism (chapter 3). Finally, we will examine some of the ways that American Christian nationalism fails to deliver on its promises (chapter 4).